Luke 2:22-40 (Christmas 1B)
St. John, Galveston 12/31/23
Rev. Alan Taylor
+ In Nomine Jesu +
Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
I’d like to speak with you this morning about the events that took place in the Gospel reading you heard a few moments ago from Luke 2. The setting is the Temple in Jerusalem. It was shortly after the birth of Jesus. Eight days to be exact. The Holy family went to the Temple in order to carry out the provisions of the Law of Moses. “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
This section of Scripture includes the story of Simeon, a man who faithfully waited for the coming of the Christ child, the man who gave us those wonderful words of the Nunc Dimittis, which is found in our liturgy. “Lord, now let test Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” This portion of Luke’s Gospel also includes the story of Anna, a woman who worshipped night and day in the Temple, as she too waited for the coming of the Messiah.
There are, of course, a number of important points to be made about this text of Scripture, but in my mind, it serves very well as an antidote, if you will, to the common tendency for people today to dismiss organized religion as a viable means of expressing spirituality. Oftentimes people will say, “I am spiritual, but I’m not religious.” Such a sentiment intends to place emphasis on the internal workings of the heart and mind, rather than on externals, things like membership in a church and traditions and rituals and the like. The latter are frequently dismissed as unnecessary, perhaps even as harmful to one’s faith.
As we consider this issue this morning, I’d like to be as charitable as possible, and so, in speaking of this whole “spiritual vs. religious” issue, I’m going to assume that those who make such a claim aren’t simply too lazy to get out of bed on Sunday morning to go to church. In other words, I’d like to take the spiritual / religious concern at face value, as a true concern regarding faith and the exercise, or practice of faith. I’m taking this approach this morning because, aside from those who avoid church because they consider religious, all of us have just enough aversion to human tradition and man made teachings to convince us that there may be some sense in which spirituality, that is, matters of the heart, are better, or more godly than religion.
The distinction between spirituality and religion is summarized by some in this way, “spirituality is of God,” while “religion is of men.” We’re inclined to accept that premise, at least on some level. After all, Jesus Himself cautioned the Scribes and Pharisees about following and teaching the precepts of men. In fact, He spoke rather harshly to them about their tendency to place too much emphasis on externals. He said, “you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.”
In a way, Jesus’ caution to the Pharisees seems to uphold the notion that spirituality is better than religion. Spirituality though, if it is devoid of religion, devoid of external revelation and teaching, is, in fact, the most man made of all religions. As Martin Luther once said, “there is no easier way to lose all the articles of our faith than to think of them without Scripture.”
True spirituality comes, not from within us, but from outside of us, from the revelation of God Himself. Aside from the fact that true spirituality comes from outside of us, from revelation, if one wishes to be a Christian, but not religious, he’ll need to contend with the fact that Jesus Himself, the One in whom the Christian’s faith resides, was Himself a deeply religious man.
And so, eight days after Jesus was born, the Holy family traveled to Jerusalem to carry out the Law of Moses. They went there for Him to undergo the rite of circumcision and to offer the prescribed sacrifice to God. Their visit to the Temple cannot be easily dismissed though simply as an external, meaningless tradition. Rather, at the moment when his blood is first shed, the child of Mary and Joseph receives the name given to him by the angel, the name of Jesus. It is likely that Luke’s hearers know what Matthew has recorded, that His name means “He will save his people from their sins.” And so, already on the eighth day of Jesus’ life, his destiny of atonement is revealed in his name and in his circumcision.
All of the Temple imagery from the Old Testament, the religious practice, if you will, was set in it’s most beautiful context in the visit of the Holy family to the Temple. Year after year sacrifices were offered in the Temple to signify the forgiveness of sins. It wasn’t the sacrifice itself that forgave the sins of the people. Rather, it was what the sacrifice foretold, the religious significance of the sacrifice. One day, God would send His own Lamb to the Temple, the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.
Simeon, the man who had waited so long for the child to come, knew that Jesus was the Lamb of God, that, He was the fulfillment of God’s promise to His people, the consolation of Israel. What went before, all the religious practice, actually mattered because it focused the people’s attention on God’s promise, people like Simeon and Anna. Because of the revelation of God and the faithful practice of his religion, Simeon was able to rejoice when he held the Christ child in his arms. Lord, he said,
“Now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
Jesus coming to the Temple ultimately made the Temple obsolete. In fact, it was finally destroyed in the year 70ad. The Temple, the place of God’s presence, the place where He told His people He would meet with them, was gone. But, God was not gone then, nor is He gone now. Jesus is everything the Temple represented. He Himself is the Temple of the New Jerusalem, the Church. He is also the Priest and the sacrifice.
With the absence of a Temple, and with the religious practice that took place in and around the Temple having come to an end, God hasn’t left us adrift. He hasn’t left us with “spirituality apart from religion.” He hasn’t called us to create Him, as it were, in our own image, according to our own likeness. Rather, He calls us to meet Him where He promises to be found, in His Word and in His holy sacraments. Some would call them religious trappings. God calls them gifts of His grace, the means whereby He comes to us, to you, to give you forgiveness, life and salvation. It’s little wonder that Luther once said, “This is the highest and best art; to cling firmly to the Word of God and not to think otherwise of matters divine than the Word tells us.” “Religion is the best of all human activities; yet it is damned if it does not rely on the Word of God. For God will not be sought by our efforts; in fact, it is utterly impossible to find Him by our efforts. Therefore, putting aside speculations about His majesty and casting off our own works, we should apprehend the Word or rather be apprehended by the Word. And apart from the Word we should speak, think, and hear nothing about God. For God wants to lay the first stone; He is successfully sought and found when He knocks at our hearts through the Word.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
+ Soli Deo Gloria +